Marking-ticket.



J. G. EDWARDS. MARKING TICKET.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 5, 1910.

1 037 23 Patented Sept 3,.1912.

Mcesses: ftaero ov n j 5 I John azmde,

UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN C. EDWARDS, ,OF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO A. KIMBALL COMPANY, or new roux, N. Y.,

A .CQRPDRATION OF NEW YORK.

MARKING-TICKET.

kinds, such as cloaks, dresses andother garments-hats, etc, to designate the style, price, .or other desired information, and it has for its object the production of a novel marking ticket which can readily attached to the ganment or other :fabric, but which cannot be detached therefrom without indicating such :fact.

Many different styles of marking tickets have been devised which are readily at- .tached to the fabric to bemarked, but they are as readily detachable therefrom, and can be reattached without detection. Dry goods concerns, milliners,-and other merchants incur entensive'losses by temporary use of valuable goods, such as wraps and gownsyhats, etc, unprincipled'customers ordering such goods sent home on approval, .and then they are returned to be credited, on. the ground that they -are-.-not what is wanted. Before being returned, however, the garments are worn once ortwice', and heretofore it has been generally impossible for the merchant to prove that the garments have been so worn, although he may be morally certain pf .it, for the ordinary marking ticket can be removedtemporarily by the customer, and after. the garment has been worn the ticket can be replaced, with no apparent proof of such fact obtainable by the merchant. The marking ticket em bodied in my present invention is designed for use as asa feguard against such dishonest practice, and somewhat peculiar requiremerits must be met in order that such a ticket may be practicable. In the first place the ticket must be positive in its safety feature, so that it cannot by any possibility be removed from the fabric without such obvious mutilation -or rupture that the fact of such detachment will be apparent. The safeguarding or locking means must be small, neat, and unobtrusive in appearance,

Patented Sept.3,1912.

Application med-Januar 5, 1910.. Serial No. 536,538.

for if is large, clumsy, and difiicult to attach it will not .be used, the ease and despatcl \Vl-ill'WlllCll a marking ticket can great importance. The fact that the ticket is provided with safety or tell-tale means cannot be made prominent to all 'customers, for no merchant would-care tolmake obvious to a large number of valued and honest customers the means lie-adopts in order to protecthimself against the dishonesty and deceit of a few.

As will appear hereinafter-my improved ticket meets all of the above' requirements, for the ticket is securely locked upon the fabric, whatever it may be, inthe first instance, quickly and with ease, and the looking means is neat and unobtrusive, while it is so arranged that detachment of the ticket from the fabric causes a permanent record of that fact to be made, and preferably such means is under ordinary circumstances concealed from view.

The various novel features of my invention will be fully described in the subjoined in the following claims.

Figure l is a plan view of a marking ticket embodying one form of my invention, applied to and locked inplace upon a fabric, with the locking means concealed from view; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the ticket attached to the fabric, .butbefore it is locked, the fastener-protection portion .or flap being turned back; Fig. 3 is a plan view of a slightly modified form of the ticket, partly broken out, and intended for use in cases where concealment of the locking'means is not a prime requisite; Fig. 4 is an eularged'sectional detail showing the means for locking-the ticket in position upon the fabric; Figs. 5 and 6 are views of single and, double pointed fasteners or attaching pins adapted for use with the construction illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

In the various views of the drawing in which the fabric is shown itis indicated at F,'the term fabric .being'ternployed as a designation of any article "to which the marking ticket is to be attached.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 the ticket proper is made of paper suitable character and size, rhaving connected foldable portions or flaps a; b rectangular in shape and adapted to be folded upon the specification and particularly pointed out be attached in the first instance being of ,or card boardof transverse line "2, Fig. 9., the outer face of the part 7) in practice bearing thereon price indications, name of merchant, etc. The

fastener-carrying portion a is provided with two separated perforations 3, talon longitudinal center, to receive the pointed fastener or pin 0 shown separately in Fig. 5, and provided with an annular or ringlike head a, which in use rests upon the inner face of the portion or flap a substantially concentric with a perforation 5 therein.

To attach the ticket the pin is passed through the perforation 4 and penetrates a part of the fabric F, the point of the pin then being passed up through perforation 3 to lie upon the flap, as shown in Fig. 2. The fastener-protecting portion'or flap I) is now folded down upon flap a to cover or' protect the point of the pin, said flap 1) having a hole or perforation 6 to register with the hole 5, and said flaps and the fastener or pin are permanently locked together by means of a tubular eyelet d, see Fig. 4, the shank of which is passedthrough the holes 5 and 6 and the head 0, and upset. It will be apparent that the ticket when so locked cannot be detached from the fabric without mutilating, rupturing or otherwise defacing the flaps a and I), either or both, to such an extent that the fact of such detachment will be Very apparent no matter how carefully executed.

The fastener cannot be withdrawn from the fabric, for the locking of said fastener to the flaps a and b will not permit it, and if the locking eyelet d is removed the flaps will be injured.

As shown in Figs. land 2 the head of the locking device beneath the ticket is concealed or hidden by the fabric lying against it, and to conceal the opposite head from view I provide the free end of the protectin flap b with a tongue-like extension I) which is folded over, on the line 7, onto the locking device and held in place by inserting its tip in a slot 8 in the flap b.

Asshown in Fig. 1 the locking means is concealed from view, the ticket having the appearance of a usual marking'ticket, which is highly desirable in high class trade, as it is not policy to make the fact obvious to all customers that the merchant is safeguarding himself against dishonesty on the part of a few customers.

In some instances, where it is not so necessary to conceal the locking means the ticket is made without the extension I), as shown in Fig. 3, but in all other respects the structure is the same as that hereinbefore described.

I prefer to provide the holes or perforations 5, 6 in the manufacture of the ticket, as they form not only a convenient guide for positioning the head of the pin on the its tained by the customer ordering the same,

as it can be cut or torn off, but if once detached it cannot under any circumstances be rc-attached without detection, hence the ticketed fabric cannot be worn or used and returned, with the ticket re-attached, without carrying the evidence of such detachment.

.Goods sent out with such safety tickets attached will in practice be accompanied by a warning to the customer that credit will not be given for their return if the ticket has been detached, hence the value of the tell-tale or safe-guard feature of the ticket.

My invention is not restricted to the precise construction and arrangement shown and described, for the same may be modified or changed in various details by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as set forth in the claims annexed hereto.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A marking ticket having a fastenercarrying' portion, a fastener to attach the ticket to the fabric to be marked, a fastenerprotecting' portion, and 'means normally adapted to hold said fastener-protecting portion in fastener protecting position and engaging and holding the fastener to prevent withdrawal of the fastener from the fabric, said'means servin to cause rupture of the ticket when the fastener-protecting portion is moved from fastener protecting position.

2. The combination with a fabric to be marked, of a ticket attached thereto and having a 'pin-carying flap and a pin-protecting flap, a pm penetratin the fabric and having its point covered y said protecting flap, and means permanently connecting said flaps in overlapped position with the pin between them and cooperating directly with the interposed pin to prevent withdrawal of said pin from the fabric, such means adapted to cause tell-tale rupture of the flaps when the ticket is detached from the fabric.

3. A marking ticket having a fastenercarrying portion, a fastener to attach the ticket to the fabric to be marked, a fastenerprotecting portion, means cooperating with said fastener to lock it and the fastenercarrying and protecting portions together, and a concealing device for said means.

4. A marking ticket having connected pin-carrying and protecting flaps, a pin to penetrate the fabric and attach thereto the 7 carried by one of said flaps.

5. A marking ticket comprising a pincarrylng portion and a connected pin-protecting portion, a pin to penetrate the fab ric and attach said pin-carrying portion thereto, said pinhaving an annular head interposed between said portions and means to permanently connect said carrying and 5 protecting portions and the interposed head of the pin, toprevent detachment of the ticket from the fabric Without defacement.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my 20 name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN C. EDWARDS.

Witnesses:

BESSIE G. MORRIS, FREDERI K S. GREENmAr, 

